“Do What You Love” Explained

So a lot of people ask me to explain my quote, “Do what you love and the business will follow.” To clarify, it has three different and distinct meanings.

First, if you do what you love, the business (the idea for a business model, i.e., how you can monetize what you love) will come to you. Because your passion for what you do is so powerful, you'll find a way to make a living at it.

I say this because not everything you love to do can be monetized in its original form. Sometimes, you need to manufacture your business model around it.

For example, you're in heaven when you're in your orchard. But being in an orchard doesn't make money. Selling apples isn't a profitable endeavour, too, if your orchard is small and you're by yourself. But you can make and sell apple pies, apple sauces, apple juices, etc.

Second, when you do what you love, the business — i.e., the people, the patrons, the market, the copy, the leads, etc — will follow. Obviously, this is the one most people think this quote means. You do what you love and people who want to buy from you will come out of the woodwork.

This is true more often than not, because the passion for what you do shows in and translates into everything you do. People will love doing business with you because you shine when you're helping them, and they will assume they will be well taken care of, and, by extension, the product will be of high quality, too.

Third and last, when you do what you love, the business (the practice of making a living, engaging in commerce, and charging people money for what you love) will follow. This is the one people often stumble with.

If you're passionate about something, you know how much the product you create (and by “product” I also mean the result you produce if it's a service) is truly worth.

At first, you might be cheap and even give it away. After all, it's what you love! It's easy to be inexpensive because in your mind you love doing it so it's nothing to you. But to your clients, especially with the point above, it's EVERYTHING.

That's why, over time, as the two first points I mentioned start kicking in, and you start getting busier and busier, your prices will inevitably increase. They have to.

So…

“Do what you love and the business will follow.” — Michel Fortin

6 Comments

Thanks for sharing the link in response to my tweet. I have to admit, it made me a little sad to end with the idea of increasing your prices. I’ll need to reflect a bit more on that. I shared your quote because it reminded me of my favorite quote: Success is doing what you love in service of those who love what you do. -Steve Farber

Hmm, I don’t know why that would make you sad. The point about increasing prices is because, over time, as the business increases your fees will need to invariably help you meet the demand. After all, you’re not a robot and there are only 24 hours in a day. So when I said “they have to,” I meant that in the context of being able to meet demand.

But that wasn’t the main point. I was trying to point out that, if you do what you love, the business will follow — either the idea, the clientele, or the sales. Or all three. It certainly has for me.

When I did what I loved, finding the ideas to build a business around it came easy. Finding the markets I can sell to came easy. Finding ways to serve my clients better came easy. Growing my business and being able to raise my prices (and getting people to gladly pay those prices) was easy.

Thanks for sharing the link in response to my tweet. I have to admit, it made me a little sad to end with the idea of increasing your prices. I’ll need to reflect a bit more on that. I shared your quote because it reminded me of my favorite quote: Success is doing what you love in service of those who love what you do. -Steve Farber

Hmm, I don’t know why that would make you sad. The point about increasing prices is because, over time, as the business increases your fees will need to invariably help you meet the demand. After all, you’re not a robot and there are only 24 hours in a day. So when I said “they have to,” I meant that in the context of being able to meet demand.

But that wasn’t the main point. I was trying to point out that, if you do what you love, the business will follow — either the idea, the clientele, or the sales. Or all three. It certainly has for me.

When I did what I loved, finding the ideas to build a business around it came easy. Finding the markets I can sell to came easy. Finding ways to serve my clients better came easy. Growing my business and being able to raise my prices (and getting people to gladly pay those prices) was easy.

That philosophy’s simple to follow and for the longest time I applied it to how well I performed. And, how my performance served the success of my clients (in my case, those leaders and organizations that bought commercial printing from me). I used my love for what I did by finding different ways my clients could accomplish their goals with their print, and lower their costs at the same time. I landed more business than I could handle alone. The price increases came in the form of reduced costs on our end and greater commission for me as my commissions were tied to profitability.

That philosophy’s simple to follow and for the longest time I applied it to how well I performed. And, how my performance served the success of my clients (in my case, those leaders and organizations that bought commercial printing from me). I used my love for what I did by finding different ways my clients could accomplish their goals with their print, and lower their costs at the same time. I landed more business than I could handle alone. The price increases came in the form of reduced costs on our end and greater commission for me as my commissions were tied to profitability.